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Ask Elsie -- September 13, 2018
EDITOR’S NOTE: Ask Elsie is a column where Chief Financial Officer Elsie Schiro tackles employee queries, or in areas outside her purview, asks other District leaders to answer them.
Dear Elsie,
I have 28 years of experience as a bilingual teacher in Texas. I have worked for numerous districts in El Paso, Houston, and the Dallas area. In all of these districts, I was not required to complete 12 hours of professional learning in order to receive the full stipend. When Fort Worth ISD advertises for bilingual teachers, no mention is made that for the $3,150 stipend, you have to complete 12 hours of professional learning before receiving $900. When the bilingual teacher does not complete the 12 hours, only $2,250 is paid.
Are high school math teachers required to complete 12 hours of professional learning before receiving their full stipend? Why does the District require the 12 hours when other districts throughout the state do not? Why does the District not let prospective teachers know about the 12-hour requirement? The state already requires that teachers complete hours of professional learning in order to maintain their certification. Bilingual teachers are in short supply. For this reason, they can choose and pick where they want to work. If they knew beforehand about the 12 hours required to receive the full stipend, they would probably choose another district that does not have this requirement. In addition, when professional learning is provided, it is normally after school or during the summer. However, teachers at the leadership academies cannot attend the summer trainings because they are committed to the training at their schools. These teachers cannot attend after-school trainings because the school day does not end until 4:15 p.m. The District also needs to address this issue.
Signed,
Anonymous
Dear Anonymous,
Thank you for your question. I reached out to Charles Carroll, chief academic officer, and he had this response to your question: “The District offers the opportunity for bilingual teachers to earn an additional $900 above the set stipend of $2,250. The additional bonus is an incentive to encourage teachers to participate in professional learning that is geared directly to their job assignment in bilingual or dual language. However, teachers may opt out of the 12 hours of training and still be entitled to the bilingual stipend.
In regard to your concern on including the 12-hour requirement in the job posting, we appreciate your concern and will take it into consideration for future planning.”
Thank you, Mr. Carroll for your response, and thank you, Anonymous for your question.
Elsie
Direct your questions to Inside@fwisd.org and put the words “Ask Elsie” in the subject line. Please close your letter with your preferred signature as you wish it to appear in the column. When there are multiple queries on the same subject, we will select the one that is most representative of the subject. We will try to answer as many questions as possible.